The Feed Podcast

Chef, Restaurateur and TV Host Rick Bayless joins forces with James Beard Award-winning food journalist Steve Dolinsky, to bring the world of food and drink into your ears and have a little fun in the process.

The Podcasts

Maybe you’re going to do a cleanse or maybe you don’t really give a damn, but for most of us, New Year’s is the time for resolutions, albeit fleeting for most. On this show, we cover several bases when it comes to approaching the new year with a new outlook. First, Rick Bayless talks with Jason Hammel, the chef at Marisol, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art’s new restaurant, about the wonders of using nut oils. Then, we turn to the issue of juicing, and talk to Alex Curatolo, the owner of Belli's, a cold-pressed juice bar about how they maintain quality, even in the wintertime. And finally, learning about some good eating habits with Matt Lampson, the goalie for the Chicago Fire.

Flour, water, yeast, salt, as elemental as bread is, we never knew it could be quite so complex. Coming up on today’s show, a chat with the co-author of the impressive and massive new “Modernist Bread” cookbook, Nathan Mhyrvold. This FIVE volumes, loaded with technique, history and science is eye candy and practical knowledge for the amateur baker, but also, a comprehensive understanding of one of the kitchen’s most elemental components for the professional as well.

Despite the consolidation and downturn in newsprint, it seems like cookbooks proliferate like potholes in Chicago. On today’s show, our third annual Cookbooks Show, just in time for any last-minute holiday shopping. We’ll talk with cookbook authors, Paul Kahan and Gail Simmons, then Rick and Steve recommend a few others worth your time.

A very specific ingredient challenge against the Chef and owner of O Ya in Boston, as both he and I attempt to come up with an easy weeknight meal in 15 minutes or less, using just a bottle of beer, plus five extra ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere. Tim Cushman accepted our challenge, using Negro Modelo as the main ingredient.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Jazz and Classical Guitar from the city’s renowned Berklee School of Music, Tim Cushman moved to California in search of musical success. As many aspiring musicians do, Cushman took a job in a restaurant. That was the start of what would become a culinary adventure around the world.

He spent the next 30 years cooking around the world in Japan, France, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Taiwan. In that time, he also served for seven years as a Corporate Chef with Lettuce Entertain You in Chicago, where he developed menus for the group’s new concepts.